Monday, March 30, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
A Truck Unloader
I didn't know we needed one.
Mark didn't know we needed so many quilts, so we are even.
He is always coming up with new ideas. This time it is a conveyor belt with a hand crank to unload the truck bed. Especially handy when we have heavy loads like oak or river rocks.
Installation...
Ready to load up.
I got loaded! It is a pretty clever operation.
No more sore backs from climbing in and out. I can see it now, pulling out a load of river rock right onto my toes instead of my usual back ache. What a trade!
Trying out our new masterpiece, Mark found a nice load of oak, in the forest, on his way home.
Here is the unloader in action.
Now it's time to organize the yard again.
Never a break!
Mark didn't know we needed so many quilts, so we are even.
He is always coming up with new ideas. This time it is a conveyor belt with a hand crank to unload the truck bed. Especially handy when we have heavy loads like oak or river rocks.
Installation...
Ready to load up.
I got loaded! It is a pretty clever operation.
No more sore backs from climbing in and out. I can see it now, pulling out a load of river rock right onto my toes instead of my usual back ache. What a trade!
Trying out our new masterpiece, Mark found a nice load of oak, in the forest, on his way home.
Here is the unloader in action.
Now it's time to organize the yard again.
Never a break!
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Back in PC
We had a nice week in Lancaster with Mom Houghton.
Mark tested two future solar field sites in the desert while getting a good sun and wind burn.
The turtles will not like the idea of having all those mirrors growing in their habitat. They will likely migrate to a more humid climate near the coast when they see how wrinkled they are getting in the high desert.
Coal mines would not reveal the rapid aging of the turtles, would take up less acres and be more reliable source for energy...but......... there is no coal in Antelope Valley (or is there?) and that's not what the black dude in the White House wants.
Who cares! As long as Mark gets some good times spent with his testing equipment and brings those rabbit skins so I can spin them into quilts and chicken paprikas, we are happy.
Mom H. and I had fabric shopping time, cooking and baking shows, arts and crafts hours, decorating days and computering a little.
Buck and Spitz enjoyed their sleeping on the grass, the warmth of the desert sun and the neighborhood walks.
Buck had the opportunity to tune his "Husky" voice. He was singing with the sirens several times a day. Spitz was taking lessons from him.
We are looking forward to the next trip which will be to Utah to visit with 'Little Mama", Greg and Sierra.
No pictures this time. Sorry.
Mark tested two future solar field sites in the desert while getting a good sun and wind burn.
The turtles will not like the idea of having all those mirrors growing in their habitat. They will likely migrate to a more humid climate near the coast when they see how wrinkled they are getting in the high desert.
Coal mines would not reveal the rapid aging of the turtles, would take up less acres and be more reliable source for energy...but......... there is no coal in Antelope Valley (or is there?) and that's not what the black dude in the White House wants.
Who cares! As long as Mark gets some good times spent with his testing equipment and brings those rabbit skins so I can spin them into quilts and chicken paprikas, we are happy.
Mom H. and I had fabric shopping time, cooking and baking shows, arts and crafts hours, decorating days and computering a little.
Buck and Spitz enjoyed their sleeping on the grass, the warmth of the desert sun and the neighborhood walks.
Buck had the opportunity to tune his "Husky" voice. He was singing with the sirens several times a day. Spitz was taking lessons from him.
We are looking forward to the next trip which will be to Utah to visit with 'Little Mama", Greg and Sierra.
No pictures this time. Sorry.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
A Summer Day
Our snow is melting really fast. It has been sunny and warm every day for the past week.
We did a little family walk in Garner Valley today. Up here is pretty muddy, but Garner is much drier and warmer.
Unfortunately, we did not have the camera with us.
Imagine...
two fuzzy doggies walking along on a dirt road with a beautiful mountain view.
And there is Mark & Bea.
Nice picture right?
We are finally assigned to test two of the solar fields near Palmdale area, so on Monday,
we get to drive to Lancaster and spend some time with Mom Houghton.
Mark gets to shlep the big loadframe around again and put it to work.
We did a little family walk in Garner Valley today. Up here is pretty muddy, but Garner is much drier and warmer.
Unfortunately, we did not have the camera with us.
Imagine...
two fuzzy doggies walking along on a dirt road with a beautiful mountain view.
And there is Mark & Bea.
Nice picture right?
We are finally assigned to test two of the solar fields near Palmdale area, so on Monday,
we get to drive to Lancaster and spend some time with Mom Houghton.
Mark gets to shlep the big loadframe around again and put it to work.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
White Boys Don't Cry!
This text is from a county emergency manager out in the western part of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan after a severe snow storm last winter.
The Mining Journal, Marquette, MI
WEATHER BULLETIN
Up here in the Northern part of Michigan we just recovered from a Historic event --- may I even say a "Weather Event" of "Biblical Proportions" --- with a historic blizzard of up to 44" inches of snow and winds to 90 MPH that broke trees in half, knocked down utility poles, stranded hundreds of motorists in lethal snow banks, closed ALL roads, isolated scores of communities and cut power to 10's of thousands.
FYI:
George Bush did not come.
FEMA did nothing.
No one howled for the government.
No one blamed the government.
No one even uttered an expletive on TV.
Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton did not visit.
Our Mayor's did not blame Bush or anyone else.
Our Governor did not blame Bush or anyone else either.
CNN, ABC, CBS, FOX, or NBC did not visit - or even report on this category 5 snow storm
Nobody demanded $2,000 debit cards.
No one asked for a FEMA Trailer House.
No one looted.
Nobody - I mean Nobody demanded the government do something.
Nobody expected the government to do anything either.
No Larry King, No Bill O'Rielly, No Oprah, No Chris Matthews and No Geraldo Rivera.
No Sean Penn, No Barbara Streisand, No Hollywood types to be found.
Nope, we just melted the snow for water.
Sent out caravans of SUV's to pluck people out of snow engulfed cars.
The truck drivers pulled people out of snow banks and didn't ask for a penny.
Local restaurants made food, and the police and fire departments delivered it to the snow bound families.
Families took in the stranded people - total strangers.
We fired up wood stoves, broke out coal oil lanterns or Coleman lanterns.
We put on an extra layers of clothes because up here it is "Work or Die".
We did not wait for some affirmative action government to get us out of a mess created by being immobilized by a welfare program that trades votes for 'sittin at home' checks.
Even though a Category "5" blizzard of this scale has never fallen this early, we know it can happen and how to deal with it ourselves.
"In my many travels, I have noticed that once one gets north of about 48 degrees North Latitude, 90% of the world's social problems evaporate."
It does seem that way, at least to me.
I hope this gets passed on.
Maybe .... SOME people will get the message ...
The world does Not owe you a living!!!
The Mining Journal, Marquette, MI
WEATHER BULLETIN
Up here in the Northern part of Michigan we just recovered from a Historic event --- may I even say a "Weather Event" of "Biblical Proportions" --- with a historic blizzard of up to 44" inches of snow and winds to 90 MPH that broke trees in half, knocked down utility poles, stranded hundreds of motorists in lethal snow banks, closed ALL roads, isolated scores of communities and cut power to 10's of thousands.
FYI:
George Bush did not come.
FEMA did nothing.
No one howled for the government.
No one blamed the government.
No one even uttered an expletive on TV.
Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton did not visit.
Our Mayor's did not blame Bush or anyone else.
Our Governor did not blame Bush or anyone else either.
CNN, ABC, CBS, FOX, or NBC did not visit - or even report on this category 5 snow storm
Nobody demanded $2,000 debit cards.
No one asked for a FEMA Trailer House.
No one looted.
Nobody - I mean Nobody demanded the government do something.
Nobody expected the government to do anything either.
No Larry King, No Bill O'Rielly, No Oprah, No Chris Matthews and No Geraldo Rivera.
No Sean Penn, No Barbara Streisand, No Hollywood types to be found.
Nope, we just melted the snow for water.
Sent out caravans of SUV's to pluck people out of snow engulfed cars.
The truck drivers pulled people out of snow banks and didn't ask for a penny.
Local restaurants made food, and the police and fire departments delivered it to the snow bound families.
Families took in the stranded people - total strangers.
We fired up wood stoves, broke out coal oil lanterns or Coleman lanterns.
We put on an extra layers of clothes because up here it is "Work or Die".
We did not wait for some affirmative action government to get us out of a mess created by being immobilized by a welfare program that trades votes for 'sittin at home' checks.
Even though a Category "5" blizzard of this scale has never fallen this early, we know it can happen and how to deal with it ourselves.
"In my many travels, I have noticed that once one gets north of about 48 degrees North Latitude, 90% of the world's social problems evaporate."
It does seem that way, at least to me.
I hope this gets passed on.
Maybe .... SOME people will get the message ...
The world does Not owe you a living!!!
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